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LifeNews.com Pro-Life Headlines

Monday, May 30, 2011

Three weeks from today,Right Online 2011will be history…and how you’ll wish you had carved time out to attend! You’ll longingly peruse the tweets and blog posts from Minneapolis all weekend about the workshops, the speeches, the socializing and the overall enthusiasm that stems from the camaraderie of like-minded souls. And you’ll make a mental note to attend next time. One caveat, though: Right Online 2012 will still be a year in the future. And you’ll have missed all the excitement and memorable moments from THIS conference.

Read the rest of the post by Glen Asbury on his blog. I've been to the last two Right Online conferences and can honestly say they were the best conservative political conferences I've ever attended. Plus I snuck into the Netroots Nation conferences held at the same time in the same city to see what the Left was up to. Of course I'm biased since I like the social media aspect. See you there!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Tonight from 6-7pm on the Alexander & Goldman Show we will have Rey Torres and other members from the Arizona Latino Republican Association (ALRA)talk about their new radio show, which debuts next week and will run in the 7-8pm slot after our show on Saturday nights. Alice Lara and Rey have helped us greatly producing our show, and we hope to continue our close association with ALRA.

Charlie Ellis of ALRA is running for Phoenix City Council, District 5 (West Phoenix) and will join us to discuss his campaign. There will be a reception in my home for him this Friday from 6-8pm. Please join us and hear about his plans for Phoenix.

We will also discuss the Senate defeat of the GOP Medicare plan and if there's time, the Supreme Court upholding Arizona's employer sanctions law, and Obama's remarks to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's about going back to pre-1967 borders and Netanyahu's speech to Congress.

Last week's show on why gas prices are so high and ASU's illegal immigrant valedictorian is archived here.

Please call in at 602.508.0960 and let us know your thoughts. Tune in locally to KKNT 960 AM or listen live online at KKNT960.com, which you can access by clicking here. Click here to get weekly email updates on our upcoming shows.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Political campaigns are gearing up for the 2012 elections and candidates are wondering how much in resources they should allocate to social media. Many campaigns rely on volunteers or scarcely devote any resources to social media. Even though Obama’s defeat of John McCain in the 2008 presidential election was partly due to Obama deeplyintegrating digital strategyinto his real-world campaign, many campaigns still shrug off the importance of social media,spending lessthan five percent of their media expenditures online.

Social media is taking over traditional areas of campaigns, from fundraising to media to volunteer recruitment and more. Some now argue that social media is themost influentialpart of a campaign. Its effect is difficult to measure, however, because it encompasses so many parts of a campaign.

Fundraising, perhaps the most important aspect of a political campaign, can be extremely lucrative online. Ron Paul raised over $1 million within 24 hours online. A recent study of the California governor’s race found that the results of “social listening”closely correlatedwith polling and focus groups. Simply paying attention to social media – which is almost all virtually free - could save a campaign thousands of dollars otherwise spent on polling.

48% of 18 to 34 year oldscheck Facebookwhen they wake up in the morning. 65% of adults under age 30cite the internetas their primary source for news, almost doubling since 2007. A full 34% of people ages 50 to 64 also rely on the internet for news. Twitter has become a better source for breaking news than any other news source.

Last week's show interviewing national security expert Tom Trento about radical Islam and ALRA member Rudy Pena about Newt Gingrich running for President is archived here.

Please call in at 602.508.0960 and let us know your thoughts. Tune in locally to KKNT 960 AM or listen live online at KKNT960.com, which you can access by clicking here. Click here to get weekly updates on our upcoming shows.

Monday, May 16, 2011

It isdéjà vuthis year with gasoline prices, which are currently hovering around a high of $4 a gallon. Every couple of years or so the price of gasoline hikes up and politicians with elections looming scramble to explain why, proposing how to bring them back down. High gasoline prices are a problematic issue because the cost of gasoline has not kept pace with inflation, so keeping them low means some kind of intervention by the government will be necessary. Whether that intervention means the Republican plan of allowing for more local drilling, or the Democrats’ proposal to punish oil companies by eliminating tax cuts, remains to be seen.

Compounding the problem is the dependency of the U.S. and other countries on foreign oil. The U.S. produces about five percent of the world’s petroleum while consuming about 20 percent. Although the U.S. does not buy oil from the most unstable oil-producing regimes, other countries do. When that supply is restricted, those countries turn to our primary suppliers, which drives up prices for everyone. The wave of Middle East uprisings which began in January may be the factor most responsible for the current increase in gasoline prices, felt all over the world. Other significant contributing factors include increased demand from Japan for oil, because of its nuclear plants being out of commission, and ever-increasing demand from fast-growing countries like China and India. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez justannouncedin April that he is hiking taxes on crude oil exports. The U.S. is feeling the pinch even more than other countries due to the debasement of the dollar.

Senate Democrats ignore these underlying factors and instead blame the oil companies for high gas prices. They want to slash tax breaks for oil companies, and direct the money instead to alternative fuels, essentially picking winners and losers in the energy industry. Oil companies already pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes, 41.1%, than the average for all other S&P Industrials, 26.5%. Raising taxes on oil companies will not work, because they will just pass the costs along to consumers. Democrats blame the oil companies instead of admitting the higher prices are caused by Middle East turmoil, because then they would have to acknowledge that drilling locally would fix the problem. Environmentalists in the Democrat Party prevent them from selecting the common sense solution of expanding offshore drilling.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Phoenix, AZ– Taking a break from the political issues that usually keep them occupied, Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce and conservative activist Eric Johnson have begun a new charitable effort whose aim is to bring clean water to Haiti first, then other developing countries.

“The PearceJohnson Foundation is described as a nonprofit humanitarian aid and development organization that will promote and support the improvement of human health and living conditions worldwide.” said co-founder Eric Johnson, “But the simple way of describing us is that we are dedicated to bringing clean water to impoverished nations so that we can save lives.”

“It is impossible to see the needs and dire conditions in so many of these countries without responding and trying to do something about it.” said Russell Pearce, adding “Nothing is more fundamental and life-sustaining than clean water, so that is where our focus will be.”

While both Pearce and Johnson are known in political circles for their involvement in Arizona policy issues, each has been involved in their communities or with similar causes for a long time. Johnson worked as a Governmental Liaison Officer with the American Red Cross Disaster Services, and Pearce is a fifth-generation Arizonan whose family has been involved in building growing Arizona for more than 150 years.

Friday, May 13, 2011

VOTERS FOR VINO Friday, May 20th at Kokopelli Winery & Bistro, 35 W. Boston St. Chandler, AZ from 5PM to 8PM. $15 for 6 different wines. Please RSVP on the ALRA Facebook fan page or to ALRA Membership Ambassador George Ortiz at gortiz4@cox.netBring your $10.70 and become an official member of ALRA. If you can’t attend please complete the attached membership form and send a check payable to ALRA to the PO Box on the app.

RIGHT WITH RACHEL: ALRA member Rachel Alexander will be talking to ALRA member Rudy Peña on Saturday May 14th at 6PM. Tune in to The Alexander & Goldman show at 960 AM www.kknt960.com

TEA PARTY TALKINGALRA board member Steve Soto, ALRA member Rudy Pena and ALRA Communications Director Alice Lara made some great new friends at the Deer Valley Tea Party last Friday night. The NW Valley Tea party has invited them to speak at their July 26th meeting – stay tuned.

MAKING THE ROUNDS AT REPUBLICAN CLUBS: ALRA will be speaking at the Sun City Grand Republican Club on Saturday, May 21st. Their meeting starts at 9AM at the Chaparral Center in the Hopi Room at 19781 N. Remington Drive in Surprise (Grand/Bell).

RUDY RADIO: ALRA member Rudy Pena is on NO SE PUEDE every Saturday from 2:30 to 3:30 PM Arizona time online: http://repatriotradio.com/

ALRA Elections in June
If you are an ALRA member and interested in running for the ALRA board please contact Alice Lara at alicelara@hotmail.com or 602-276-3959.

This Saturday on the Alexander & Goldman Show from 6-7pm AZ/PST, we will interview guest Tom Trento about radical Islam and the Palestinian week demonstrations at California universities last week. His organization, The United West, broadcast live from the demonstrations. Trento and other members of Team B-2 recently sent a letter to Congress opposing the Obama administration's arguments in favor of continued overtures to the Muslim community. The letter asks Congress to investigate the Muslim Brotherhood influence in and penetration of the US Government. Team B-2 consists of experienced defense, intelligence and law enforcement practitioners. Trento is Director of the Florida Security Council and seeks to educate non-Muslims about the growing threat of radical Islamic terrorism. Watch Trento's new video documenting recent attitudes & actions of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood: Islam Exposed: Tom Trento Exposes the Muslim Brotherhood. For more information, he recommends the DVD "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West."

During the first part of the show, we will interview Rudy Pena from the Arizona Latino Republican Association (ALRA) on whether Newt Gingrich is conservative enough. Rudy will discuss Newt's Latino magazine The Americano. We will also discuss the DREAM Act, which Harry Reid reintroduced on Wednesday to the Senate. ALRA is having a wine tasting next Saturday evening, May 20, at Kokapelli's in Chandler. Click here to RSVP on facebook (don't need to be a member of ALRA to attend).

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

This year's Right Online conference will take place June 17-18 in Minneapolis, MN. Confirmed speakers include Michelle Malkin, Michelle Bachmann, John Fund, Andrew Breitbart, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Erick Erickson, S.E. Cupp, Ed Morrissey, Mary Katherine Ham and Ann McElhinney. Right Online is put on by Americans for Prosperity. At the same time and place, the leftwing Netroots Nation will be holding its annual convention! Click here for news and video clips about Right Online. If you're on the right and active online, you don't want to miss this convention. I've been to the last two and they were both very much worth it. See you there!

Monday, May 9, 2011

A key step to resolving the foreclosure crisis is to pass legislation requiring banks to charge interest on the real value of a home (such as reflected on a site like Zillow.com), not its overinflated value.

Okay; I better qualify that statement. There are a number of people who will not benefit from this blog, but the odds are that you need to know what I have to say. Firstly; you need to figure out which category you are in:

Not so long ago, public employees sacrificed higher incomes in exchange for job security and excellent benefits. These days public workers average better pay and much better benefits than workers in the private sector.

Join us for an informative conversation with Steven Greenhut, author of Plunder: How Public Employee Unions are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation, Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio, and Kirk Adams, former Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives.

Mr. Greenhut will share this history of how public employment became a position of privilege. Rep. Adams and Councilman DiCiccio will reveal the difficulty they have faced attempting to reform public employee benefits.

The Goldwater Institute has repeatedly met and talked with Glendale officials, including Mayor Elaine Scruggs, to try to resolve the constitutional conundrum raised by the city’s effort to subsidize the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes. But the Goldwater Institute will not turn a blind eye to Glendale’s plan to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to prop up the Coyotes in violation of the state constitution.The deal hinges on two main components. First is that the city proposes borrowing up to $100 million to purchase arena parking rights from the future team owner. This is a charade meant to hide a $100 million handout to the new owner because the city already owns the parking rights. The second component is the $97 million arena management fee. That fee would directly subsidize the Coyotes by reimbursing its future owner for operating expenses that only benefit the team. However laudable the goal of keeping the Coyotes in Glendale, it does not merit back-room negotiations, abuse of taxpayer money, and violation of the law.
It is not too late for Glendale to keep the Coyotes in town legally. The city should pursue more private investment in the deal by having the NHL reduce its upfront sales price for the team and spread any balance out over the 30 year arena lease term. It should also demand that the NHL promise not to relocate the Coyotes over the term of the lease. The city should reduce the management fee so that it does not reimburse the future owner of the Coyotes for operating expenses that only benefit the team. And if the future owner of the Coyotes really believes he can turn the bankrupt team around, Glendale should demand a 100% asset-backed guarantee of all revenues that have been promised to the city.
There are legal ways to keep the Coyotes in town and protect taxpayers; Glendale should choose one.Nick Dranias holds the Clarence J. and Katherine P. Duncan Chair for Constitutional Government and is director of the Joseph and Dorothy Donnelly Moller Center for Constitutional Government at the Goldwater Institute.
Learn More:
Goldwater Institute: Frequently Asked Questions about Glendale/Phoenix Coyotes deal
Maricopa County Recorder’s Office: Glendale Parking Agreement (Jan. 25, 2011)Forbes:A Critical Battle Over The Sports Economic ModelWashington Post:George Will: An Arizona city’s sports mania encounters a hard check